Double Vision Common At St. Francis

If, for whatever reason, you find yourself walking around the grounds at St. Francis High School in Wheaton, you can`t help but notice that many of the students look so, well, alike.

Five, count `em, five, sets of twins are included among the 131 newcomers enrolled in the class of 1996. To make matters more complicated, two of the incoming duos are virtually identical.

``The numbers alone make this very, very unique,`` said acting principal Michael Rice.

That, coupled with the school`s policy of a uniform dress code, is also giving teachers, administrators and some fellow students fits in trying to figure out who`s who.

``Sometimes you can tell by the hairstyles,`` Rice said. ``Other than that, it`s just a matter of getting to know the child.``

Twins are nothing extraordinary at St. Francis. Each upper class has one set. But five?

``It is one of the things that has perplexed me too,`` Rice said. ``As soon as I saw the possibility of this in March, I began to realize that we had something special here.``

For the record, here`s the freshman class list that has the Spartans seeing double. Charlie and Sara Roy, whose family recently moved in from Indiana; James and Norah Sheehan; Sara and Ellyn Holper; Melissa and Rebecca Gardner and Michelle and Tina Balice.

The Gardners are identical, the Balices close enough that Rice said it`s all he can do to determine which one is which twin.

But she`s had her share of fits over the slight, like when a state map that included unincorporated Flowerfield left off Warrenville and when she stormed into a County Board meeting after her town failed to make a county map.

``I was incensed that time,`` Lund said. ``Had it been Elmhurst or Naperville, they wouldn`t have passed out that map.``

``But,`` she added, ``being left off that map, though, was probably the best (public relations) we could have had.``

Quayle tale

Was it any wonder that Westmont village officials were busting their buttons after meeting Vice President Dan Quayle when he came to town on a campaign visit earlier this month?

Mayor Frank Bellerive just couldn`t stop talking about his vice presidential handshake even during the next Village Board meeting. So much so that, before he was through, some of the trustees were verbally beaming with pride over the distinguished visitor.

``I mean, well, we are the progressive village,`` said Trustee Anthony Puccillo Jr., taking note of Westmont`s village motto as an explanation of how the vice president`s visit was a sensible move on his part.

Check it out

Wheaton is hardly known for its liberal bent, but it does have its share of gardeners. At the new Barnes and Noble Bookstore, shoppers can peruse books to teach them the ins and outs of growing everything from geraniums to, huh, marijuana? ``The Marijuana Growers Guide`` by Mel Frank and Ed Rosenthal is available, but there`s only one copy on the shelf.